Courtney KirchoffThursday January 11 2018

Let this be the one and only note to errant leftists: the inscription on the Statue of Liberty about “give me your tired, your weak, your pregnant ladies with thousands to spend on lavish hotels as they wait to pop out an anchor baby” isn’t actual immigration policy. Which is why federal agents operated within the boundaries of the law when they raided “maternity hotels” in California:

NBC News was on the scene as Homeland Security agents swept into The Carlyle, a luxury property in Irvine, California, which housed pregnant women and new moms who allegedly forked over $40,000 to $80,000 to give birth in the United States.

Um, I’m not a financial planner, per se, but splashing that kind of money for a baby stay seems rather lavish. A spit in the face to “but the poor people!” talking point squeaked by every bleeding heart with a keyboard.

Before you pitch fits about swollen-belly mamas getting popped by the feds, don’t.

None of the women were arrested; they are being treated as material witnesses, and paramedics were on hand in case any of them went into labor during the sweep.

Instead, the investigation was aimed at ringleaders who pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars tax-free to help Chinese nationals obtain visas and then pamper them until they delivered in an American hospital at a discount, court papers show.

Got that? The hotel baby daddies (for lack of a better term), got busted for cheating the IRS. If you and I are going to be sexually accosted sans lubricant, creative hotel pimps need to bend over a few times for the tax man. #FairShare.

It gets worse, but first here’s some context on location:

All told, the feds raided 20 locations in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, targeting three competing birth tourism schemes, officials said. The suspected operators have not been charged but are being questioned.

The Chinese women are guilty of visa fraud. As in when they’re checking into the United States with their passport, and asked “And what is the purpose of your stay in The Land of Plenty?” it’s necessary for the Chinese women to tell the truth. Which, in this case is, “To give birth to an anchor baby. Going through the immigration process is for poor schmucks.”

Now, the hospital discount. It’s egregious.

They were funneled to several Orange County hospitals to deliver, but they didn’t pay full price — approximately $25,000 — for medical services, officials said. Instead, they got reduced rates for the indigent, ranging from nothing to $4,000, the court papers say.

That’s quite a discount. Like getting a new Honda Civic (with all the bells and whistles) for the price of a used Ford after so many breakdowns. No, I’m not citing Honda because Asian. Stop it.

But wait, it gets even worse.

The investigators discovered that the parents of one baby born in April 2014 who paid the hospital just $4,000 were spending money at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, Rolex and Louis Vuitton, using an account with almost a quarter of a million dollars in it.

Paying indigent rates to the hospital (which you subsidize, why do you think insurance and hospitals charge people who CAN pay so much?) while dropping dolla dolla bills for new watches and handbags. If you’re going to defraud the government, do it with pizazz.

America is where everyone wants to be. I get it. But wouldn’t it be swell if people went through a more rigorous process other than “Hey honey buns, let’s take baby Li or baby Vlad to America.” That’s not xenophobia, it’s a basic request that Americans be born to American citizens.